Burning Hearts

Burning Hearts are a Finnish dream pop band formed in 2006 by Jessika Rapo and Henry Ojala. The band’s debut full-length album titled Aboa Sleeping came out in 2009. In early 2012, Burning Hearts released their second album titled Extinctions, which featured a number of popular songs, including Into the Wilderness. In May 2017, the band’s third album Battlefields was released. This album spawned a number of popular songs, including Work of Art and Bodies As Battlefields.

Burning Hearts is one of Finland’s most popular indie bands, and has over the years amassed multitudes of dedicated fans from all over the world. They were able to achieve this feat primarily due to their amazingly beautiful and timeless songs.

Current Members

• Jessika Rapo (who is now known as Mrs. Jessika Neuman) is the band’s lead vocalist and keyboardist.
• Henry Ojala (who is also known as Mr. Henry Neuman) is the band’s guitarist. It should be noted that Henry also sings backing vocals.
• Niko Kivikangas is the band’s drummer.

Facts about “Burning Hearts”

The band was started by Jessika and Henry in 2006.

Despite being a hundred percent Finnish band, majority of their songs are sung in English.

All the band’s songs are written by Jessika and Henry. Jessika often writes the lyrics, whereas Henry often writes the music.

The other band members Johan Ekström and Niko Kivikangas didn’t join the band until in 2010, when they were recruited to perform with Burning Hearts during live performances. Johan is currently not a member of the band. The exact date of his departure is unknown.

The band’s hometown is Turku. Turku is a city with a population of about 186,000 people located on the southwest coast of Finland.

The band’s hit track “I Lost my Color Vision” was used in the 11th episode of the American comedy-drama show I Just Want My Pants Back in 2012. The show aired on MTV from August 2011 to April 2012.

The relationship between Jessika and Henry transcends just being band members. They are husband and wife.

All the band’s three full length studio albums (Aboa Sleeping, Extinctions and Battlefields) consist of nine tracks each.

Before making a name for themselves with Burning Hearts, both Henry and Jessika played in different bands. Henry played drums for the Finnish indie pop band Cats on Fire. As for Jessika, she was the vocalist of the indie band Le Futur Pompiste. That band was formed in Vaasa, Finland.

Awards and Accolades

• In December 2012, Burning Hearts’ album Extinctions saw them receive two Emma Awards nominations. The nominations were in the following categories: Best Album Cover and Critics Choice Album of The Year. The Emma Awards is Finland’s most important music award.
• In 2013, the band received a Vegapriset nomination for the Group of the Year.

Burning Hearts’ Albums

Between 2009 and 2017, Burning Hearts released three full length studio albums. Here are all three albums and some very vital information about them:

Aboa Sleeping

Aboa Sleeping is Burning Hearts’ debut full-length album. It was officially released in the United States in February 2009. While members of the band haven’t confirmed this, it is clear that the title of the album was partly inspired by the Aboa Research Station. The aforementioned station is a Finnish research station located in Antarctica.

All songs on this album were written solely by Henry and Jessika (Burning Hearts). The pair also handled the album’s production. The album was mastered at the Virtalähde Analog Audio (Virtalähde Mastering), a music production studio located in Kuhmoinen, Finland. And sound engineer Jaakko Viitalähde handled the mastering. The album’s artwork was created by Treatzone.

Extinctions

Extinctions is the second full-length studio album they released. The album, which was mixed by the popular Finnish musician and producer  Jori Sjöroos, was released in 2012. All the songs on Extinctions were written by Henry and his partner Jessika.

The album’s artwork was designed by Kea and Emil Bertell. According to the band (Jessika and Henry), the album is inspired by the tragedies and deaths that touched them. The band dedicated the album to several deceased people. One of such notable people was the American documentary filmmaker, environmentalist and bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. In 2003, Treadwell was tragically killed by a bear at the Katmai National Park in Alaska.

Battlefields

Battlefields is Burning Hearts third studio album. The album, which contains 9 songs, was released in May 2017. And as usual, all 9 songs on the album were written by Jessika and her partner Henry. In addition to arranging all the songs, the pair also produced the album. Battlefields was mastered at the famous recording studio Svenska Grammofon Studion located in Göteborg, Sweden. Swedish music producer Hans Olsson Brookes was responsible for mastering the album. Burning Hearts, along with Tomi Leppänen, designed the album’s artwork. The band dedicated the songs on the album to Åke. But who really is Åke? Åke is the couple’s first child. He was born in August 2013.

Burning Hearts (ft. Åke)

Below is a truly beautiful video clip of Jessika and Henry (Burning Hearts) jamming with their 5-year-old son Åke. If you are wondering who Åke is, he is that adorable little boy playing the drums. So, so beautiful!